Archive for February, 2013

Belize has launched the first round of negotiations for a partial scope agreement with El Salvador. This agreement is expected to provide export opportunities for industry and contribute to overall economic growth of both countries through promoting trade, foreign direct investments, employment and revenue generation. It will also deepen trade relations of Belize and El Salvador.

The first of three rounds of negotiations, which concluded with signing of an aide memoir between Belize and El Salvador, addressed a number of issues, including market access for agricultural goods and products, investments, cooperation, legal and institutional arrangements.

Chief executive officer in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Mike Singh, encouraged the private sector to take advantage of the opportunity for engagement and partnership with El Salvador in the sphere of investments and market access, both for import and export purposes.

On February 12, the House of Representatives during a special sitting passed the bill on the restructured superbond. The bond went through all three readings, and now it should be approved by the Senate. During the debates in the House, Prime Minister of Belize Dean Barrow disclosed that there is an extension in maturity of the superbond, meaning there is about a decade added to the payment plan. He also said that there are over a hundred million US dollars written-off the debt, and current payment rates are 40 per cent lower than those under previous terms. The restructured deal also included the capitalization of the interest received from partial coupon payments in late 2012.

The deal was expected to cost about sixteen million dollars, but the Belize government will pay only three million Belize dollars to close the restructuring exercise.

During the discussion, the Opposition said that it had not been privy or consulted on the new terms of the superbond. The Leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca, pointed that the government might have negotiated a better terms of the deal if they were involved in the negotiating process.

On January 30th, the ceremony was held marking the launch of a new magazine of Belize Trade and Investment Development Services (Beltraide). The magazine, called Invest Belize, is the latest investment promotion tool being put forward by Beltraide.

According to Executive Director of the organization, the magazine will be the leading periodical, which will be the centre of discussion for “everything business in Belize.”

The first edition of the magazine includes news and statistics on various aspects of the Belizean economy, and in particular, the Business Process Outsourcing industry, known as call centres. Invest Belize also features articles on other sectors of Belizean economy – offshore financial industry, oil industry, and even information on Belize’s Superbond.

The 58-page publication will be issued twice a year. Another one is scheduled for June or July 2013.